Toy



E. C. FLATMAN.

TOY.

APPLICATION FILED 1ULY29. IBIS.

Patented Sept. 28, 1920.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

E. C. FLATMAN.

TOY- APPLICATION FILED JUL Y29. i919.

1,353,900, Patentbdsept. 28, 1920.

2 SHEETS-6HEET 2- awwwlioc ENEST Karma! UNITED STATES" manner 0. rLA'rMAn, or narrow, MICHIGAN.

PATENT OFFICE.

TOY. r

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented S t. 28" 1920 Application filed "m 29, 1919. Serial No. 314,063.

panying drawings.

This invention relates to toys and has special reference to an educational and manual training toy adapted to bring out the constructive faculties latent in every childs mind, the cart being constructed so that it may be taken apart or dismembered and various articles or devices constructed from the arts of the toy.

y invention aims to rovide a toy of the above character which wi 1 represent a cart or similar vehicle when all the parts thereof are properly assembled, and these same parts will afford amusement to juveniles in constructing other toys or devices. In some instances a small degree of skill may be required but in the majority of instances a child can assemble parts of, the toy so that the parts will represent other articles or devices. I,

My invention further aims to provide a simple and indestructible to that may be repeatedly pulled apart an put together, thus permittin of various experiments being carried on y a child in an endeavor to produce some article otherthan that of a cart representing the various parts accurately assembled. At present it is possible to assemble the parts of the toy topr oduce twenty-five or more toys orartlcles.

My invention, ,will. be., !?,leinaftelf more fully considered andthen claimed and reference will now be had to the drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the toy, i V

Fig. 2 is a plan of the same; 7

Fig. 3 is a view of the rear end of the toy;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing a device that may be constructed from parts of the toy;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a tent or cart top, and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a stepladder that may be formed from parts of the toy.

In the drawings, the reference numeral 1 denotes an axle having reduced ends 2 for the hubs 3 of cart wheels 4, said wheels bemg detachably retained on the reduced ends of the axle 1 by transverse pins 5.

Mounted on the axle 1, are arallel bolster supporting members 6 an said members having the ends thereof cut away, as at 7, to accommodate the outer ends 8 of transverse bolsters 9. The ends of the members 8 have dowel pins 10 which extend into the ends of the bolsters 9, thus positioning,

the bolsters relative to the members 6 so that While assembling parts of the cart cannot become accidentally displaced. The bolsters 9 are furthermore held by dependmg portions 11 thereof extending between shafts 12 and said shafts are provided with transverse coupling rods 13 which extend through the forward and rear ends of the members 6, as best shown in Fig. 1, thereby tying the shaft members so that the running gear of the cart may be pulled or otherwise manipulated by the shafts 12,'which extend forward and are provided with a plurality of coupling rods 14.

On the bolsters 9 are ladders 15 which are placed in parallelism, said ladders having permanent short rounds 16 anddong detachable rounds 17, the latter being arranged at the ends of the ladders so that the parallel ladders may be tied together. The ends of the ladders 15 are slotted or notched, as at 18, so that when the ladders are removed they may be placed to ether to form a stepladder, as shown in 6, wlth the slats or notches 18 of the la ders receiving one of the long rounds 17.

On the rounds 16 of the lad'ders 15 are to receive upright portions 21of the members 6. The planks or bottom boards 19 fit between the side rails of each ladder and the upright portions 21 of the bolster supporting members are adjacent the outer rails of the ladder, when considered in plan.

Supported on the ends of the bolsters 9 are the side walls 22 of a cart body having end walls 23, said end walls being of a less depth than the side walls 22 so that said end walls may rest on the rails of the ladder 15 and also on the ends of the planks 19 which form the bottom boards of the cart body. The ends of the side walls 22 have studs 24 extending through openings provided therefor in the ends of the end walls 23, said end Walls being retained on the studs 24 by transverse tie rods or pins 25 corresponding to the long rounds 17, so that the tie rods may be used as rounds or the rounds as tie rods, thus making parts oi. the toy interchangeable. hi i The upright portions of the holster supporting n'ienihcrs t) extend above the plane of the planks l9 and are provided with openings alining with openings 31 in the side Walls 22 of the cart body so as to receive a transverse tie rod 26 that bears on the upper faces oi the planks 1.9 and the upper edges of the rails of the ladders 15. The tie rod 213 is adapted to prevent vertiral displacement, of the cart body relative to the ladders 15 and to prevent lateral displacement the ends of the holsters J are provided with dowel pins 27 ei tending into sockets in the lower edges of the side Walls The upper edges of the, side walls 212 also have sockets 28 to receive the ends ot canopy bows 29, said hows supporting a canopy 30 of the gypsy or schooner type. \Vith the side walls 22 and one of the end walls 23 removed and equipped with a canopy top, shown in Fig, 5, the structure affords a tent or inclosure and this is an instance 0i. one of the articles or devi es that may be constructed from parts of the toy.

Another article or device has been shown in Fig. it, wherein the running gear of the cart is utilized in connection with the ladders 15 to provide an upright structure of greater height than the stepladder shown in Fig. 6.

Since the cart may be dismembered. without ininry to. any of the pa it affords considerable amusement to I vcuiles in simply taking apart and putting together the cart, and in designing the various parts I have aimed to form a miniature vehicle and other structures which will instill in the child's mind the art or'" scout-craft so that later in life the early manual training will be appreciated.

It is thought unnecessary to specify the numerous articles and devices that may be formed with parts of the toy, and While in the drawing there is illustrated a. preferred embodiment of my invention it is to be understood that the structural elements are susceptible to such variations and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is 1. A toy comprising a running gear, laddcrs thereon, and means extending trans versely of said running gear on top of said ladders and adapted to retain said ladders in engagement with said running gear.

2. A toy as characterized in claim 1. and

"flierein planks are on said ladders and cut away to providc clearance for a portion of said running gear.

3. A toy comprising a running gear, ladders thereon, a body on said. running 7 gear and said ladders, and: means extending through a portion ot said running gear and said. hodyand adapted to retain said ladders and said body on said. running gear.

11K toy comprising an axle provided with detachable wheels, bolster supported members on said axle, bolsters detachably connected to said members, a body on said bolsters, ladder, and planks, forming the bottom of said body, and means extending transversely ofsaidbod and through said bolster supporting mem ers adapted to retain said body on said holsters.

5. A toy cart comprising an axle provided with wheels; bolster supporting members on said axle, bolsters carried by said mem bers, shafts detachably connected to said bolster supporting members with portions of said holsters extending between said shafts, ladders on said bolsters, planks on said ladders, a body on said bolsters and having for its bottom said planks, and means onnectin said body to said bolster supporting Inem ers. V

6. A toy cart; as characterized in claim 5, and wherein the body is formed of side walls and end Walls detachabl'y connected thereto, the side Walls resting on said bolsters and the end walls resting on said ladders.

7. A toy comprising an axle provided with detachable Wheels, holster supporting members on said axle, transverse bolsters on the ends of said so porting members and detachabl'y connectec l to said members; a body on said bolsters, ladders and planks forming the'hottom of said body, and means extending transversely of said body and through said bolster supporting members at. each bolster adapted to retain said body on said bolster.

In testimony whereof I ailix my signature in the presen e of two witnesses.

ERNEST G. FLATMAN.

Witnesses:

KARL I1. BUTLER, ANNA M. Done. 

